Guide Dog Mobility Instructor (GDMI)

Contact at organisation: María Jesús Varela Méndez, Fundación ONCE del Perro Guía (FOPG)

Phone: +34 91 632 46 30

Email: MVME@once.es

If you are a guide dog instructor and you want to work in Madrid, training guide dogs and delivering them to blind people throughout Spain, come join the ONCE Guide Dog Foundation’s team, with more than 70 people, the only one in the country, with 33 years of experience and in an important period of growth.

The FOPG provides the guide dog service for ONCE (Spanish National Organization of the Blind), an entity that has an exemplary specialized model of services for people with visual disabilities, which has achieved they reach a very high degree of inclusion at educational, emploiment and social level, that also entails a high mobility to which guide dogs must respond.

ONCE is the one that, fundamentally, finances the Foundation’s activity, which provides it with great financial stability, in addition to being an entity with high social recognition.

By working at the FOPG, you will be part of a team with many years of experience, which will continue to renew and grow, to respond to the high demand for this mobility assistant.

You will receive the dogs with their early training completed, and you will be responsible for their advanced training, their pairing with suitable applicants to get a matching success, the subsequent completion of the mobility course with a guide dog and the monitoring of the formed teams.

If you do not speak Spanish, while you are acquiring fluency with the language, it is possible to support you with volunteers to optimize your communication with the students.

MAIN RESPONSABILITIES

• Carry out a preliminary evaluation of the dogs coming from training.
• Implement an individual training program for all dogs assigned to you.
• Prepare assigned dogs to deliver within the desired time frame and quality.
• Identify temperamental and behavioral problems and ensure appropriate solutions are applied.
• Observe possible health problems and report them for review and assessment.
• Identify when a dog should be removed from the program.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date records of the dogs in your care, as well as good communication with the puppy raisers, the guide dog users that correspond to you, and the staff of all departments.
• Provide support to other members of staff where required and participate in the training of GDT, GDMI trainees, etc.
• Properly choose the person to whom each guide dog is assigned, establish correct and effective communication with them, as well as plan and carry out mobility courses with guide dogs according to the different modalities used (in our center or at home) to achieve successful pairing.
• Carry out supervision of the equipment, both through continuous attention to possible incidents (in communication with users), and with in-person visits.
• Prepare reports related to each team, including the one corresponding to the mobility course and those of each face-to-face supervision, and keep the resolution of user incidents up to date.
• Work as a team, actively participating in activities to disseminate the rights of guide dog users, in fundraising actions and in others that may be organized.

PERSONAL SPECIFICATIONS

• GDMI Guide Dog Instructor qualification, issued by an IGDF member school.
• Minimum high school graduation or equivalent, preferably a college degree.
• Valid driver’s license and ability to drive manual transmission vehicles. If it has been obtained in an EU country or in those specified in this link, it will be exchanged in Spain when you have a residence permit: <https://www.dgt.es/nuestros-servicios/permisos-de-conducir/permisos-extranjeros-y-de-fuerzas-y-cuerpos-de-seguridad/canjes-de-permisos/canjes-de-permisos-extranjeros/>.
• Valid passport and eligibility to work in Spain.

JOB SPECIFIC SKILLS

• Practical experience working with dogs in a training environment.
• Knowledge of guide dog training and methods, staff training and instruction techniques and canine behavior.
• Ability in handling dogs and analyzing their temperament, to provide a successful result with each dog.
• Ability to understand canine psychology and behavior modification.
• Ability to adopt and successfully resolve problematic behaviors, both with dogs and people.
• Experience in graduating teams and supervising them.
• Flexibility to adapt existing procedures to current needs.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Ability to work in a team, as well as independently, taking responsibility for designated tasks.
• Awareness of the personal impact of disability and vision loss for an individual.
• Computer skills in MS Office 365.
• Mainly during the mobility courses with a guide dog, flexible hours, working overtime, working on weekends and availability to travel (under the conditions established in the FOPG Collective Agreement).

BENEFITS

• Salary according to the Collective agreement of the Foundation, set for the GDMI. In Spain, The salary includes full access to the free and quality public health system: medical, hospital services, medications, etc.
• 24 working days of vacation and various authorized and paid leaves, overtime to be compensated for free time or paid.
• Working at the FOPG means working in a quiet place, but 25 km away from the center of Madrid, a vibrant city, with enormous attractions, located in the center of the country and with fantastic communications that allow you to discover the enormous landscape, gastronomic and cultural diversity of Spain.